Overall Rating       ****   4 stars – major monument in a dramatic situation

Display                    ***     3 – models and details in the adjoining Museum

Access                      ***     3 – easy to park or get there by Lyon city bus

Other                        The view!

This is definitely one to travel to see – as we did for the weekend.  Unearthed in the 30s, the Roman Theatre – the first in Gaul, is dramatically built into the hillside above the renaissance city of Lyon.  It was originally built c15 BCE, and was the Theatre of Lugdunum, the capital of the Three Gauls (Lugdunensis, Belgica and Narbonensis) where the Sanctuary of the Three Gauls was situated.  It was extended at the start of 2nd Century CE.

It is large semi-circle 108m in diameter and could seat 10,000 people. Although it is without the scaena (classical backdrop to the stage), you can get an excellent impression of what a classical theatre felt like.  You can clearly hear what visitors are saying on the stage from the upper tiers!

Next to it is an Odeon, a smaller theatre, which it is thought would be used for music and poetry recitals.  Both theatres are used for modern performances.

Although a breath-taking position with views over Lyon and around, if there is a criticism it is the lack of explanation at the site.